So the weather here has been crazy, in the 70’s one-day, snow and ice the next. That’s just the way it is in Dallas this time of the year. I thought the Fury would stay warm as it is still in FL but, alas, they are having freezing temps this week. Oh I miss the Fury for sure. Yep, having withdrawals but she and I will start practicing for the 10 season in a week. So, what have I been doing? Well, we still have our daily LoPresti “Go To Meeting” meeting, lots of phone calls and replying to never ending emails. We will set our schedule next week.

In thinking of the Fury DVDs we plan on making, such as “Preflight and Flying the Fury”, “Fury Check out”, “Fury Aerobatics” and “Fury ACM Ultimate Fun”, I have to plan many factors. It got me reminiscing over my film career and the many different things I learned from award winning directors, photographers and the many different departments that make up a film production company. No doubt I have been blessed with working with the best and in 43 years I hope I learned something, hahahaha. It surprises me in today’s world the outrageous number of production companies that have sprung up across the nation and world. Nikon, Cannon and many others have produced small cameras that are literally a production studio in a package the size of the old Kodak Brownie Box camera. WOW, I guess I dated myself, hahaha. However, not a fancy camera does a production company make!

Anyone can point a camera and push a button. A true photographer sets or recognizes the picture. A picture should tell a story of feeling, emotion or beauty without being cluttered or have improper lighting. She knows how to use shadows to enhance the shot and capture the viewer’s attention. I love using shadows. On many occasions I have used them on early morning or golden hour shots. In the “Phantom” we photographed the Agcat on floats along the mountains so the shadow was running along with the plane, in and out of the rocks. In the Fury DVD, we shot at noon so we could capture a shot of the Fury shadow during a low pass and pull up. It worked like we envisioned. As the Fury approaches the ground for the pass, you see the shadow get closer to the Fury. You see and feel the height and speed of the shadow along the ground and the separation as the Fury breaks away. It’s a great shot as most people who have seen the DVD comment on it. Link for Video

When we scout for a film shoot we consider many things at that location. The director, director of photography, the camera operator and I will scout that location at several times during the day from early morning through the golden hour of sunset. Our first concern is lighting, then background as we look at the shadows during the day. With that done, then we select ground camera positions, then I can plan the story aircraft flight path and action for the sequence. All of this gives us our time frame for getting the shot. I have to keep in mind that I have to match that time frame, background and lighting at a later date to shoot the aerial shots and plates. Basically, plates are long shots of the background and in our case would be used if there were any interior shots looking out of the story plane, a point of view of what the people in the plane would see.

Over the holidays I came across a film that I had seen several times and I watched it again. This film is truly amazing to a filmmaker for it is a fantastic example of telling a story with pictures. There is not a word of dialog for the first 41 minutes and yet you know everything that is going on, where the plot is going, the sounds, feelings and emotions, for every frame of film tells the story. In fact, throughout the entire film there isn’t much dialog; background sounds and music, yes. From beginning to the end (great ending) the pictures tell this story. OH, the name of the film, Steve McQueen’s “Le Mans.” If you love the sounds and looks of Ferrari , Porsche, Lotus and other fine race cars, you’ll love this flick. Enjoy!

I’m counting the days till I can dance with the Fury,